‘He is one the greatest match winner for India’ - Paras Mhambrey extols R Ashwin after latter's heroics against West Indies

Following his outstanding performance in the first Test match against the West Indies at Windsor Park in Dominica, veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin received extensive praise from team India bowling coach Paras Mhambrey. On Day 3 of the first Test, India defeated the West Indies by an innings and 141 runs, thanks to Ashwin's 12 wickets.

According to Mhambrey, Ashwin is one of the finest match-winners the Indian team have ever produced. He continued by saying that there haven't been many match-winners like him but the veteran has helped the team on various occasions.

“As a team we realise how valuable R Ashwin is. In my opinion he is one the greatest match winner for India. There have been very few match-winners like him. The number of matches he has helped us win, what can I say,” Mhambrey was quoted as saying by Indian express.

The way Ashwin and Jadeja came on later and bowled is praiseworthy: Paras Mhambrey

Mhambrey went on to say that he and other coaching staff reviewed the stats of the local games and realized that as the game advanced, the spinners would be favoured by the surface and the batters would struggle. The 51-year-old continued by saying that there had been times when teams could have batted for longer stretches and India had batted like that, setting the stage for the bowlers to perform later. He then lauded Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja's performance which was crucial for their win.

“When we came here on Day 1, it was a bit dry, and when we checked the stats of the local games we found out that spinners dominated in those games. We felt as the game progresses it will be difficult for batting and the other thing is how we use the wicket. 

“They have batted and we have batted as well and there were situations where teams could have batted for longer periods which we did. That created the base for the bowlers to later come and perform. The way Ashwin and Jadeja came on later and bowled is praiseworthy,” the former cricketer added.